Fans wish Paul a happy birthday

Some of my favorite photographs taken of Paul on his birthday in 1967 are these photographs of fans around his Mini as he and Michael leave Cavendish.    

Brother Michael is taping the cameras taking photos

The Birth of the Beatles -- A Book Review

When Sam Leach passed away at the end of last year, I realized that while I was familiar with Sam, I really didn't know very much about him.  And so I found a copy of Sam Leach's 1999 book "the Birth of the Beatles" and read it over the past few weeks and found out all about this fascinating man.

Paul, Sam and Pete in 1961

Sam Leach was the best promoter in Liverpool in the early 1960s.  His clubs might have strived for a short period of time and then failed, but the man knew how to get the kids into the clubs to see the bands. When Sam Leach promoted a concert, you could guarantee a large profit for the night. Sam would do a variety of "Big Beat" shows in Liverpool at places like the Iron Door or the Tower Ball Room where all of the top Merseybeat groups would play sets overnight for a huge dance party.  The Beatles, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Gerry and the Pacemakers, etc. etc were all there and hundreds of young adults from the Liverpool area would spend the night rocking and rolling.

By being such a strong promoter, Sam developed a friendship with the Beatles. He could joke around with them and would give them a hard time and they would give it right back to him (usually Lennon naturally).  One thing I didn't know was that sometimes he would have groups combine when not all of the band was able to make it.  So in March of 1961 at the Iron Door John, Paul and George performed with Rory Storm to make "Rory Storm and the Wild Ones" during lunchtime sessions. Now, that would have been a performance to see!

The young people sure loved to dance!  Do you see Ringo in this photo?

Sam was always a Beatles fan.  He talked about something that must have been true because I have read it time and time again in books about the early days. He said that when the Beatles performed, the dancing suddenly stopped, and everyone just stood there in a trance because the Beatles were so good.   And Sam believed in the boys right from the start.  He knew they were going to be big and told them so.

As time goes on, Sam keeps losing clubs and opening up new ones.  Either Sam wasn't always good at running a business, or he was a guy who just had terrible luck.  He watched as the Beatles got more and more popular in Liverpool.

And then Brian Epstein came along and Sam says the Beatles changed. They were no longer rough around the edges and were missing something. Sam does not paint a pretty picture of Brian in this book.  He makes Brian look to be a petty, snobbish and shrewd manager that controlled the Beatles and did whatever he could to push Sam out of the picture. Maybe Brian was afraid that Sam was going to take over as manager?   And why Brian does not come out looking like the good guy in this book, Sam was quick to say that without Brian, the Beatles would not have become as popular as they did.  That Brian single-handedly took them from Liverpool to the rest of the world.

Brian, Mike McCartney, Pete Best and some girls pose for Sam at his engagement party in 1962

Sam had some great stories. The entire story of his first night having an all night concert is great, but there is a part where they keep losing Ringo (who was with the Hurricanes at the time) and they keep finding him asleep behind an amp.  The story of Aldershot and the 18 people who came to see the Beatles perform is a classic. What bad luck!  The ad didn't get in the newspaper to let people know about the show because the newspaper was waiting for Sam's check to clear. Then to make things worse, the weather got really bad and it was dangerous to get out.  So 18 lucky people got to hear a Beatles concert. Crazy when you think about it.  Also interesting was that Sam said at his engagement party, he watched Brian chase after his fiance's sister all night, making him believe that Brian was bi-sexual.  

What I really liked learning about was something that has always been a mystery to me.  For many years, I have had in my collection a magazine from 1964 called "The Beatles on Broadway" that featured great photos of the Beatles in America in February 1964.  In big letters on the cover is "Sam Leach."  I knew Sam didn't travel to America with the Fab 4, so how did he get involved with this magazine?    As I said, Sam was a Beatles believer from the beginning, and when he heard that they were traveling to America, he knew they were going to make it big.   And so before they left, he got a deal with UPI to the first rights to the wire photos that came across from that tour.  He bought them pretty cheap.  So he had all the rights to these great photos, and he put them together for one of the classic Beatles magazines ever.

Overall, "Birth of the Beatles" is a good book.  I found it to be a little slow in some spots, and I was tempted to skip over sections because it wasn't holding my interest, but then things would pick up again.  Also, I wasn't totally sure how true some of the stories he told were. Was it really Sam Leach's idea to have 10 minutes of silence in memory of John after his death?   But over all, it was a great look at the Liverpool club scene in the early 1960s and the important role the Beatles played in that scene.

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book.  I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/4a2ymtP

The kid brother's wedding

Learning with the Guru

Mystery Boys

Beatles fan, Peter Hodgson made a fantastic discovery last month when he was going through some archived photographs of Liverpool by the Liverpool Echo newspaper.     The photograph was taken by near Speke on the Oglet Shore in the late 1940's.    

The photo itself shows a group of kids playing on the beach.   And in the background, which has been zoomed and cropped from the original, shows some young boys wearing shorts and braces along with a girl with a bow in her hair.

Peter is convinced that the two boys (the one looking at the camera being Paul and the short one turned is Mike) is the McCartney brothers.

Mike was shown the photo and said it was a 50/50 chance as he and his brother did play on that beach in the summers and their mum often dressed them in shorts and braces as well as they had a neighbor girl that palled around with them.

But can we know for sure that this is Paul and Mike and not just some other ragamuffin kids from Liverpool?  No---the image is too far away to really make out the facial features of the boys.  

Here is the photo that has convinced many that it is Paul and his neighbor friend.    As you see the little girl has a bow in her hair, just as the girl in the beach photo has.    The clothing and hairstyle of the little boy in the beach photo does look identical to little Paul's in the photo below.

However, a lot of little girls wore bows in the hair and a lot of little boys looked similar to how Paul looked at that time.   I don't think we will ever know for sure---but it really was a great discovery!

Brothers

Anyone know what is happening in this photo?  Where it was taken?  

Love for the McCartney's

The McCartney Brothers

The Autumn of '68 (part 2)

Last summer I posted the first part of a great story of some American girls who went over to London in the Autumn of 1968 and spent time hanging around Paul's house and getting to know him.    Low and behold I have discovered part two and most of the whole series in "The McCartney Observer."   Sadly, the photos that are shared with the story are in poor photocopy quality.    If anyone has these in better condition and are willing to share them, it would be awesome!

The story was written by Linda Rabe and JoAnn DeFilippe and was published in issue #13 (Spring 1980) of the McCartney Observer.  

Autumn of ’68 (part 2)

Written by Linda Rabe and Jo Ann DeFilippe

We woke up quite late the next day, remembering the night before.  We knew for sure our trip would be the best ever for us.  We went round to see some of the sights and got back in time for dinner at the hotel and went up to our room to get ready to go to Paul’s house leaving about 11pm and took a cab to Cavendish.   It was really quiet except for Eddie who was under the gate crying…so we stuck our hands under the gate to pet him and he was nibbling our fingers!   We climbed the wall to see if Paul’s car was in the yard.  When we didn’t see it there we knew he was at Trident recording so we made ourselves comfortable for the wait for him to come home.   Shortly later we saw two cops coming up the block towards us.  So we casually picked ourselves up and started walking down the block.  Then we head “Hey, Girls!”  We were afraid to turn around, but when we did they were smiling.   We waited for them to catch up to us.  They came up and asked us where Paul was.  We said “Paul who?”  They said, “What were you doing then?”  We said we were walking down the block and heard a dog crying so we stopped to pet it.  We told them we were going to Regents Park and they said don’t go there all the freaks go there this late at night.  So we said we would go to Primrose hill, and they said not to go there because all the homosexuals go there.  All of a sudden a car drives down the block and one of the cops said, “There goes Paul.”  We said it was not.   The one cop told us, “If we told you not to go back to the house you’d be back there in an hour anyway” and he laughed.  We then proceeded to walk to Wellington with them and told them that we were going to go to Scotland and visit our pen pals.  They said good night and started for the prescient and we told them we were going to get a taxi home (such liars).  When they were out of sight we went back to visit the crying dog.

A half hour later a car pulled up with people we had never seen before.  They got out and opened Pauls’ gate with a key and pulled in the yard and shut the gates and went in.  About fifteen minutes later we saw the guy in a window on the third floor next to the music room, when Ivan appeared in his car.  He got out and said hello.  Ivan asked us who was in the house.  Not knowing who the people were we told him some fat guy and his wife.  Ivan laughed.  He ran the bell and said “Paul sent me round.”  No one came to open the gate for him so Ivan had to jump over it again, and let himself in.  We felt bad for Ivan because he didn’t have a key and the other guy did.  Shortly later we saw a car coming up the block and thought it was a cop car so we started up the block again.  We turned around to look and saw Pauls’ brother Mike getting out of the taxi, with the rest of the Scaffold and three girls.  Mike asked who was inside and we said “Some guy and his wife and Ivan.”   Mike said, “Ivan!  What the bloody hell is he doing here?”  Mike took off his jacket and handed it to one of the girls and jumped over the gate, and let everyone in (except us).  A half hour later a cab pulled up and he asked us if we were the ones who wanted a taxi.  We said no it must be them inside.  We rang the bell and mike answered and I told him his cab was here.  Mike, the three girls and the Scaffold and Eddie came out.  We spoke briefly to John of the Scaffold and they got in the taxi and pulled off and left us there with Mike and Eddie.  Mike yelled out to them, “Ta, ra good ta.”  It was almost four in the morning and I decided to ask Mike where Paul was.  He said “He’s said “He’s recording and won’t be home until very late, so why don’t you go home and get to bed.  I think that would be a very good idea, now I think.”  We asked Mike if we could take his picture and then we would go home.   He said ok, each of us took a picture alone with him and once the flash didn’t go off (as usual).  And Mike said not to worry, that sometimes they do flash and sometimes they don’t flash.  We tried again and the flash was bright and Mike said, “Oh shit, that one!”  As we were taking the pictures Mike was holding Eddie and we were petting Eddie.   After we finished Mike said are we going to go home and go to bed new.  We said yes.  Mike said “Well then, I’m satisfied.  Goodnight to you.”  We all said goodnight and went and got a taxi.

We got up late again the next day and just did some sight-seeing and couldn’t wait until that night to go to Paul’s house.  So at 11pm we left for Paul’s house.  We sat around on the curb to his courtyard in front of his gates.  Every time a car came speeding up the block we would say, “Shit, it’s him….it’s not him.”  Then another car came speeding up the block and we thought it was him, because as the car came closer it slowed down, but then it made a slight turn as if to go into the garage across the way.

It just stopped and it looked like a woman driving.  The lights were very bright and it was hard to tell. We were getting very pissed off wondering what the hell she was staring at us for.  This went on for a good five minutes all of a sudden the car came speeding up and made a sharp turn into where we were sitting, almost running us over.  The woman turned out to be Mr. McCartney all by himself.  We jumped up in a hurry afraid of being killed on the spot.  He still sat there starring at us and we thought that maybe we forgot to pu on our trousers.  We stood there holding one carnation each which we swiped form our hotel dining room.  Paul then opened the door and the radio was blasting he was whistling.  He came to Jo Ann and took her carnation and said “thank you.”  He then took Carol’s flower.  He then went to Linda whose flower was stuck in her button hole and had a very tough time getting it out with him standing there patiently and starring.  She finally got the carnation loose and gave it to him, and said, “With love from me to you.”  And Paul said, “ahh.”  He went to the back seat of his Aston and took an album and put the flowers in it.  He was dressed in a beige suit with elephant bells which were just coming in style.  He then walked over to the front of the car to open the gates and Jo Ann said to Linda, “This car is beautiful.”  Paul turned around and said, “Thank you.”  We were surprised he had heard because the motor of the car was very loud and Jo Ann said it very soft.  Still whistling, he got back in the car and we watched him pull into the garage, as he was coming back towards us, Miss Eastman appeared at the door and Eddie came running out.  She was wearing a blue lounging outfit.  Eddie started to run to us and Eastman shut the door.  Jo Ann said “Watch Eddie doesn’t go in the street.”  And Paul then called Eddie and whistled and Eddie turned and ran to him.  Paul still walked over to us tripped over Eddie and we thought he was going to end up on this face.   We all said, “Be careful!”  He started to close one gate and leaned on it and we told him he almost ran us over, and with his silly little smile he said, “I wouldn’t do that.”  We told him that we met his brother the night before.   He pouted and said “Oh yeah.”  (We later found out from a certain source that he gets jealous if you mention another fellow even his brother!)  Paul was looking very tired so we just said goodnight to him and he smiled and said “Hey well, I’ll see you anyway, goodnight!”

The next evening when we arrived at Paul’s house we made ourselves comfortable again.  Around one o’clock the Aston came speeding up the block as usual and turned into the driveway and he sat there smiling at us.  He had on a tan jacket and looked beautiful as always.  Miss Eastman was sitting on his left and staring out the front window of the car and looking quite annoyed as usual.  The motor of the car was loud and Paul asked us “Are you enjoying your holiday?”  It was very difficult to hear him and Jo Ann kept saying “What?” and Paul kept repeating it very patiently.  We finally caught what he was saying and told him yes.  As the two of them remained seated in the car we think they were waiting for each other to get out and open the gate.  Paul then put his left hand on the back of her neck and scratched her neck.  She turned her head away from him and stormed out of the car as Paul sat there patiently and smiled at us.  When she got to the gate the three of us looked at her and smiled.  She wouldn’t smile back.  She just threw her head back very dramatically.  We felt hurt because we didn’t do anything to her.  Paul pulled into the garage.  As we were standing waiting for Paul to come back she looked and just slammed the gates right in our faces!  We then got furious and were going to kick the gate and call her a bitch when we heard Paul’s footsteps passing her by and coming closer to the gates.  EH opened one and leaned on the other and looked at us as if to say he was sorry.  We told him that we met a neighbor of his who was with his dog and told us that you were a very n ice boy.  Paul’s reply was, “Don’t believe him.”  Linda said, “Why you’re not a nice boy”   Paul just smiled and Eddie came running out of the house towards us.  Paul bent to pick him up and said, “Hiya Ed…Hey, well, I’ll see you anyway.  Goodnight.”  We said Goodnight to Paul.

Paul Birthday surprise

It is nice to see more frames of Paul and the fans crowding around his car as he leaves Cavendish Avenue on his 25th birthday.  Not only do we get to see Cavendish house in the background, but we also see that Paul's passenger is his brother Mike, who is documenting this event.  

The Chase

Here is the rest of the story of Beth, Mary and Jan's British adventures during May of 1982 that was to be continued last night.    The girls leave London for a trip to Liverpool just in time for Michael McCartney's wedding.   They are in the middle of the craziness that went on outside of the church where Paul was the best man.   This was written by Beth Sanders and was again from the July 1982 issue of "With a Little Help From my Friends."

Photo:  Barry Farrel

The Chase (May 29, 1982)

By Beth Sanders

We had heard about Michael McCartney’s wedding from some friends, and we had been planning to leave Liverpool early Saturday, as we had some things to do in London before flying home Sunday.  When we were told about the wedding and also finding out where it was going to be, we altered our plans and stayed in Liverpool until Saturday evening.

That morning we walked around Liverpool once again.  We walked up near the Anglican Cathedral, by the Art College and the Institute, over to the Blue Angel, now the Razmataz Club, and over to the Jacaranda, now the Maxi Sun Suzi.  About 11:30 we hailed a taxi and the driver dropped us off by St. Barnabas Church in Penny Lane.  A small crowd had already gathered and some girls were sitting on the sidewalk singing Beatles songs.   We found a place across the street from the church where we could keep an eye on comings and goings.  Everyone once in a while someone would walk by and ask us when the wedding was.  There was some confusion to this as some of the girls who had been hanging around were saying one time, but the paper had said another time.  A few older women came up and asked about the wedding and one mentioned that she knew the McCartney boys when they were children.  Another woman told us that she was a friend of the family of the bride.

Around 2:00 pm the crowd thickened and we decided that we’d better go across the street near the entrance of the church, which we had been told was always the entrance used for weddings.  In a while a bobby came up and made the crowd clear a path to the door, and everyone began to think that someone was going to be going in.  After a while we realized that wasn’t the case, and Mary decided to walk around the church and see what was going on elsewhere.  At every entrance around the church the crowds were even thicker than where we were and if anyone had gone in, there was no way of knowing because you wouldn’t’ have been able to see anyone.   In a few minutes Mary rejoined Deb and me and we waited.  About 2:30, Mary again went around to the other side of the church to check things out, and as she neared the nucleus of the crowd, she knew someone was going in, but she couldn’t’ tell who.  She decided to step out into the street some to try to see around the people, and as she did so, she was almost knocked over by a silver Volvo station wagon!

Knowing that that was Paul’s car she looked inside to see Paul and Linda and some of the children.  The car went around the church and Mary was right behind it, running all the way.  The Volvo stopped in  back of the church and as Mary finally got there, Linda was getting out of the car, Stella had already gotten out, and Mary McCartney was trying to get James off of her lap and out the front car door.  Paul was still sitting in the car and got out after Mary, and they paused for a moment at the door to the parsonage as Paul signed something for someone!  They went on in almost immediately and Mary went back around the church to find Deb and me.  Meanwhile we had gone around to the same side of the church where Mary had been when she first spotted the Volvo and John Hammil was driving it back around the church.  We had taken off after it when we found Mary and she had informed us that Paul was already inside.  The Volvo was parked near where we had been standing and we stayed by the car knowing that Paul would get in it sooner or later.  John Hammil was now sitting on the roof of the car with a video camera to video the wedding party as they came out of the door.  

About 3:30pm the side entrance opened and we could barely see Michael and his new bride in the doorway.  A roar went up from the crowd as Paul and Linda stepped into view.  We started waving, but knew that through the hundreds of people that we there, he wouldn’t see our hands.  Trevor and some other man escorted the children to the car first and they could hardly get through the crowd.  It looked like James was scared and about to cry.  As they were sitting in the car, Stella mentioned to Mary that she was worried about Dad and Mom making it to the car.  Paul and Linda started to make their way there but people would just not move out of the way and everybody just kept reaching for Paul’s hand to shake it.  Finally, they made it to the car with the help of some Bobbies.  When they were safe inside the car, John took off hurriedly and Michael and Rowena were right behind them. 

We caught taxi back to Lime Street Station to catch our train back to London.  All the way back to London, we laughed at the image of Mary chasing that silver Volvo station wagon all the way around the church.

Happy Birthday ot Brother Mike!

Mike McCartney:  December 4, 1981 Chicago, IL.  Photo by Barbara Beden

Photo by Jorie Gracen

Photo by Barbara Beden

Being the little brother of Paul McCartney must not always be easy.  But it seems like Mike has taken things really well.   In the early 1980's Mike did the fan circuit to promote one of his photography books.   I hear that he was an excellent speaker at the conventions.  In these photos he is at a bookstore in Chicago doing a signing.    Happy 69th birthday Mike!  Best wishes! 

Wearing that shirt...

Here is a photo of Paul wearing that red shirt that I posted of him wearing outside of Cavendish.  People were saying that he wore it in the late 1970's.   Well here he is in a photo with his brother and the Scaffold wearing it in 1974.

Strange photo

I  have had this one sitting in my files for a couple of months.   Not too sure what is going on there.  Paul and Dick Lester and the smiling guy seem to be trying to ignore the couple in the middle (who at first glance I thought was George).

Green Tie

Here is another great example of Paul wearing the same item of clothing on many occasions. We first see Paul wearing this funky green tie at his brother, Mike's wedding in May of 1982. He then continues to wear it in the 1980's and in 1991 during a press event for Linda's veggie burgers. You cannot call Paul McCartney a clothes horse, that is for sure!

My Beatle Dream Came True

I found another article Pattie Emerson wrote about her 1967 visit to London where she met Paul and George. I have always loved Pattie's photos, especially the ones from Kinfauns and meeting George. I have scanned the photos from the first article I posted about her visit (see archives for that one) because I had bad scans and these are much better. So I am including ones from this article as well as the one I have previously submitted. Enjoy!

My Beatle Dream Came True

By Pattie Emerson, 14, McKinley Junior H.S. Flint Michigan

(Ed Note: On holiday in England, lucky Pattie Emerson, 14, visited the homes of the Beatles, met two of their wives, Jane Asher, and got ot talk to Paul and George at length.)

When I went to England this summer, I 'd hoped ot just see one of the Beatles. I was really surprised to actually met two the, their wives, and Jane Asher.

After being in London a few days, my friend Joyce Kulhawick and I went to Paul's house. We expected a mob, but only one girl was there - Betts Logan, who lives in New York. She said Mrs. Mills (Paul's housekeeper) said Paul would arrive back form Scotland that afternoon. A man drove by and said Paul was on the corner getting a haircut. Another said he was at the pub, and still another said he was at the beach. This guy gets around!

Betts and I came back the next day, July 15, 1967, and met Wendy Joyce, who lives in London, goes to Paul's every day (except Thursdays), and has met Paul so many times that she sells his autographs! She's really great.

We waited all day while such people as Mike McGear (really McCartney), Paul's brother drove out. People just drive in and out of Paul's like it was a hotel. When we took "Mike's picture he said, "you have the wrong one." It was kinda pathetic.

At about 5:30, Jane Asher, and Martha (Paul's huge sheepdog) were driving to the park by Mr. Harris (Paul's temporary employee) in Paul's green Aston Martin. Shortly before 6:00 Jane and Martha walked back, and we talked to her. Jane looked like you'd expect Paul's girl to look -- very feminine, in a green flared skirt, flowery Victorian high collar blouse. Her half-way to the waist fiery hair was done in a braid on her head.

I told Jane I was from America and that I'd seen her in "Juliet" and asked her if she could please bring Paul out. She said she would, but I was doubtful. Certainly the great McCartney wouldn't come out for a mere fan!

About five minutes after Jane went in, we heard a noise behind the gate. Hopefully I got my camera ready. Sure enough, it was Paul! He said, "Hello, girls." and asked what part of America we were from. Someone said she liked his brother, Mike, and Paul said, "Ah, It's the comedian again!" He has a real deep voice, and muscular arms (he wears two watches), and every time he blinked his eyes I thought he'd take off, his eyelashes were so long!

I was a lot more calm than I thought I could be. I told him I loved Sgt. Pepper, and he thanked me. He was very nice. One of the nicest people I've ever met.

A week later Betts and I were back at Paul's. Mr. McC wasn't in. He'd left for Athens that morning with John and his family. We met two girls who'd been with us meeting Paul, and we walked Martha to the park (Regents Park) with Paul's cousin from Liverpool, John McCartney. He was staying at Paul's with Paul's father, step-mother, and step-sister Ruth. He was really nice and we had a of time to ask him questions about Paul.

When I met Ruth, (who is seven and isn't' all that thrilled about having a famous bother), she said "You know, he's just a boy." She was hobbling around on a broken leg at the time. P.S. Paul, John was wearing your jacket!

On July 26, we drove to Esher but George as still in Greece. At Weybridge, John wasn't home either, and no one was there. We walked all over the place, taking pictures off balconies, and enjoying the lovely Lennon scenery, the pool, the gypsy caravan (given to Julian for his fourth birthday), statues, and a brightly-colored wheelchair in the back! My dad drove right up into John's garage, and turned around.

On to Ringo's (Sunny Heights). At Ringo's I felt very bold and knocked twice on the door. Maureen answered. I didn't recognize her at first, with the blonde hair, and asked "Is Mr. or Mrs. Starkey in?" After making a complete fool of myself, I gave her the scarf I had knitted for the new baby. We talked awhile, then I left to take pictures of the place. As I was leaving I saw Ringo, Zak and some other unknown person eating lunch in the kitchen. I didn't have the courage to wave.

There are all sorts of things written all over all of the Beatles' gates like "Ringo for Prime Minister" and "John is sexy." It's really funny!